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arXiv:1106.4916 · Physical Review A

Cavity sideband cooling of trapped molecules

Markus Kowalewski, Giovanna Morigi, Pepijn W. H. Pinkse, Regina de Vivie‐Riedle

Published Sep 12, 2011• 11 citations
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Abstract

The efficiency of cavity sideband cooling of trapped molecules is theoretically investigated for the case in which the infrared transition between two rovibrational states is used as a cycling transition. The molecules are assumed to be trapped either by a radiofrequency or optical trapping potential, depending on whether they are charged or neutral, and confined inside a high-finesse optical resonator that enhances radiative emission into the cavity mode. Using realistic experimental parameters and COS as a representative molecular example, we show that in this setup, cooling to the trap ground state is feasible.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.84.033408

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The efficiency of cavity sideband cooling of trapped molecules is theoretically investigated for the case in which the infrared transition between two rovibrational states is used as a cycling transition. The molecules are assumed to be trapped either by a radiofrequency or optical trapping potential, depending on whether they are charged or neutral, and confined inside a high-finesse optical resonator that enhances radiative emission into the cavity mode. Using realistic experimental parameters and COS as a representative molecular example, we show that in this setup, cooling to the trap ground state is feasible.
We propose a cooling scheme for realizing single-photon sideband cooling on particles trapped in a statedependent optical potential.We develop a master rate equation from an ab initio model and find that in experimentally feasible conditions it is possible to reduce the average occupation number of the vibrational levels in one dimension by more than 90% by applying a frequency sweep on the cooling laser that sequentially cools all the motional states.Notably, this cooling scheme works also when a particle experiences a deeper trap in its internal ground state than in its excited state, a condition for which conventional single-photon sideband cooling does not work.In our analysis, we consider two cases: a two-level particle confined in an optical tweezer, and Li atoms confined in an optical lattice, and we find conditions for efficient cooling in both cases.The results from the model are confirmed by a full quantum Monte Carlo simulation of the system Hamiltonian.Our findings provide an alternative cooling scheme that can be applied in principle to any particle, e.g., atoms, molecules, or ions, confined in a state-dependent optical potential.
We study the mechanical effects of light on an atom trapped in a harmonic potential when an atomic dipole transition is driven by a laser and it is strongly coupled to a mode of an optical resonator. We investigate the cooling dynamics in the bad cavity limit, focussing on the case in which the effective transition linewidth is smaller than the trap frequency, hence when sideband cooling could be implemented. We show that quantum correlations between the mechanical actions of laser and cavity field can lead to an enhancement of the cooling efficiency with respect to sideband cooling. Such interference effects are found when the resonator losses prevail over spontaneous decay and over the rates of the coherent processes characterizing the dynamics.
We study the mechanical effects of light on an atom trapped in a harmonic potential when an atomic dipole transition is driven by a laser and it is strongly coupled to a mode of an optical resonator. We investigate the cooling dynamics in the bad cavity limit, focusing on the case in which the effective transition linewidth is smaller than the trap frequency, hence when sideband cooling could be implemented. We show that quantum correlations between the mechanical actions of laser and cavity field can lead to an enhancement of the cooling efficiency with respect to sideband cooling. Such interference effects are found when the resonator losses prevail over spontaneous decay and over the rates of the coherent processes characterizing the dynamics.
We theoretically analyze the cooling dynamics of an atom which is tightly trapped inside a high-finesse optical resonator. Cooling is achieved by suitably tailored scattering processes, in which the atomic dipole transition either scatters a cavity photon into the electromagnetic field external to the resonator, or performs a stimulated emission into the cavity mode, which then dissipates via the cavity mirrors. We identify the parameter regimes in which the atom center-of-mass motion can be cooled into the ground state of the external trap. We predict that, in particular, for high cooperativities, interference effects mediated by the atomic transition may lead to higher efficiencies. The dynamics is compared with the cooling dynamics of a trapped atom inside a resonator studied by Zippilli and Morigi [Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 143001 (2005)] where the atom, instead of the cavity, is driven by a laser field.
Cavity cooling of an atom works best on a cyclic optical transition in the strong coupling regime near resonance, where small-cavity photon numbers suffice for trapping and cooling. A straightforward application to the cooling of the translational motion of other polarizable particles without sharply defined two-level transitions (such as molecules) fails as optical pumping transfers the particle into uncoupled states. An alternative operation in the far-off-resonant regime generates only very slow cooling due to the reduced field-particle coupling. We suggest one can overcome this by using a strongly driven ring cavity operated in the sideband cooling regime. The dynamics can be mapped onto the optomechanics setup with a movable mirror and allows one to take advantage of a collectively enhanced field-particle coupling by large photon numbers. A linearized analytical treatment confirmed by full numerical quantum simulations predicts fast cooling despite the off-resonant small single-particle--single-photon coupling. Even ground-state translational cooling (in the external potential) can be obtained by tuning the cavity field close to the Anti-stokes sideband for sufficiently high trapping frequency. Numerical simulations show quantum jumps of the particle between the lowest two trapping levels, which can be directly and continuously monitored via scattered light intensity detection.